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The useful websites that I found

BBC Learning English

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/

When I prepared the IELTS this website was very useful because this website presents various listening files and script especially 6minutes English is very helpful to develop my listening skill.

New Scientist

http://www.newscientist.com/section/opinion

This particular website provides a number of journal articles regarding not only science and also social issues related science. I was happy to read some of articles and definitely it was helpful to develop my reading skill.

University of Toronto

http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice

I’ve often visited the site since I’ve studied English in Canada. I’ve been learning writing skills such as a structure, organizing, using sources and so on form this web site.

NAVER – English dictionary

http://endic.naver.com/

This is one of my favorite web sites. This web based dictionary gives how a word actually is used in a newspaper or an article and also I can hear the pronunciation of word that I found. In addition, I can make my own vocabulary book and test if I remember by myself.

Time

http://www.time.com/time/

This website presents current issue, news and so on. I can learn how writers and editors analysis hot issues.

Reflection 3.

Three weeks passed! I only have two weeks left and the last week is actually the final exam week, so I need to finish every assignment given by next week. Fortunately, I finished discussions and goals and strategies and this reflection is my last one. However, I still have a lot of things to do such as the oral presentation, the vocabulary book which is more than half finished and preparing the final exam. I should have managed time properly, so that I can finish every assignment on time. In week 3, I also had the writing test. I had a enough time to read and think the given article and write an essay.  In comparison the IELTS, 90 minutes is enough time to finish one essay because only one hour is given to finish two writings in the IELTS. Even people do not know what sort of topic will be given. I have prepared the IELTS, so thought that this exam would be much easier than the IELTS. However, that was my misunderstanding. I failed to manage the time. I spent nearly one hour on writing the introduction and fist paragraph. Therefore, the rest of them are totally terrible, even I couldn’t finish the conclusion properly. On the other hand, I also think that this writing test is more likely practice and only accounting for 10% of whole marks, so I just learn something such as time management and preparation for writing from this test. I will fix mistakes that I made in the first test and I won’t have the same mistake again in the final exam. I also learnt about new writing task which is comparing and contrasting two articles in this week and it will be my final exam task. It was not too difficult because I already learnt how to think and write critically but the problem is that how I can finish this writing on time. I have the exactly same time that I had in the first exam. I definitely need a lot of practices. I have only two weeks left and I will do all my best during the two weeks in order to complete this course successfully.

Statistics (Discussion 3)

Statistics is obviously useful information and widely used in almost every field. In addition, due to developing technology, statistics becomes more accurate than ever before. However, when you read an article supported by statistics, you need to consider statistics critically because it can be intentionally translated to support the writer’s argument. For example, if writer has negative opinion about “G20 summit”, they might use a number of statistics that focuses on negative effects in order to support their idea. It is true that statistics does not tell a lie but there are a huge number of statistics which can be selected by what an author asserts.

The Impact of English on Economy (Discussion 2)

According to McGurn, English is the key role in the future success in Asian countries. I partially agree with his opinion. I do not know other Asian countries’ situation but the industrial structure of South Korea is highly depend on manufacturing and exporting goods such as vehicles, electronic and heavy industrial products. More importantly, the major buyer of those is the United States. So English is highly important in business area especially trade. It is common that if people want to get a job in Korean major companies such as Samsung, LG or Hyundai, people have to have high English test score like TOEIC. Not only manufacturing companies based on trade and also the financial service sector requires English skills because foreign investment has been dramatically increasing once Korea has fully opened the financial market and the foreign investment has become enormously important to support Korean economy. As you can see, for Korea, participating in globalization and learning English is not matter of choice. It is matter of survival. Every year, therefore, a lot of students go to overseas countries to learn English, which leads to significant deficit in the education trade. English already became an integral role to Korean economy as well as society before we think whether it is good or bad, so unfortunately it becomes a meaningless argument. It is time to find how to learn English without paying a lot of money. 

English and Australian Citizenship (1st Discussion)

I’ve read all the responses regarding the topic “English and Australian Citizenship”. Most of people disagree or partially agree with Azar’s idea but let’s see this way.

                  

Although there is no official language in Australia, English is commonly used. According to 2001 census, English is the only language spoken in the home for around 80% of the population, which means people who want to live Australia permanently need to speak English no matter where they are from, who they are in order to survive in Australia. Someone says Chinese chefs working in a Chinese restaurant don’t really have to learn English because they always use Chinese though they live in Australia. However, they may encounter many difficult situations. They need to contact Telecommunication Company to connect the Internet or home-phone, Australian schools to send their children. If an electric supplier sends an incorrect bill to them, how they are supposed to do that?  Do they call some who can speak both Chinese and English all the time? I know that Chinese community in Australia is huge but what about other language groups?

In addition, not only main applicants who applied the Australian permanent resident visa and also dependants are required the English test score such as the IELTS. If dependants cannot achieve the English score the government sets, they have to pay more than $4,000 for studying English while refuges are not require anything about the English test. This is also unfair. The more serious problem is the Australian government pays substantial amount money on teaching English to refugees. If the Australian government had selected some refugees who speaks basic English to communicate Australians, the government would have saved huge amount money.

Moreover, people who want to immigrate Australia need to understand and respect the culture, history and politics not only take economic benefits from the country. Becoming a citizen is becoming a member of Australian society, which means immigrants need to take a responsibility and duty for Australia such as the federal election. If people do not have any English skills, how people can select the right person. Therefore, I believe that people who intend to immigrate Australia need appropriate English skills.